Help! Torn Mother (my mom) between to daughters (me nonJW and pioneer all faithful JW)

by Butterflyleia85 23 Replies latest jw experiences

  • OnTheWayOut
    OnTheWayOut

    Some things to think about concerning Facebook. Some of the most famous photographers learned to hang around their subjects until they let their guard down and forgot about "the camera." Same with some documentary producers. Many people let their guard down after awhile on Facebook.

    I am on Facebook, and absolutely allow no JW's to be my "friends." I am fully myself on FB. My guard is mostly down. If that is not your situation, then really avoid anything ex-JW or pro-JW on FB or just entirely avoid FB. If you feel you need contact with certain groups or people and don't want to stay away because of your JW family, then create a new persona and no JW needs to know it's you.

  • Morbidzbaby
    Morbidzbaby

    OTWO has a great suggestion. When I did my fade, I deleted EVERY JW off of Facebook...and anyone I thought was a "mutual friend" with JW's that I knew got the ax, too, as well as one person who my ex knew I was friends with and stalked her page to get info and photos of me to send to the elders...he tried, but failed to get me DF'ed lol. I am 100% myself on Facebook because mine is set to completely private. Another of my exJW friends that I met on here has a Facebook page that is an alias so he can be himself as well. He has his regular page for JW friends and family, and then his alias page where he is free. So, both very good suggestions that have worked for some of us!

    As for your sister, this conflict is between you and her and you need to take your mother out of the equation. Stop using her as the go-between. You and your sis are both adults. If your mom tries to insist on giving you messages from your sister or tries to tell you that your sister is upset about something you said or did, kindly tell your mom that if your sister has an issue, she needs to follow Jesus' advice and come to you about it first. That's the Christian thing to do, is it not? Involving others is not the way to resolve conflict. Your mother isn't an impartial mediator, she is your mother...and her feelings will bias her.

    Now, knowing how you feel about the organization, your sister still invited you to the Memorial. Using that as an example of rudeness, how would she feel if you invited her to Christmas knowing how she feels about it? I bet she'd be pretty cheesed off and offended. Instead of getting all up in arms and "how dare you invite me to your Memorial when you know how i feel?!", you simply sent her a scripture that stated your reason for not attending. Basically, you upheld the rules of etiquette by sending her an RSVP along with a reason why you couldn't go lol. It was her choice to be offended at it.

    Lastly, remember that in this situation, the only person you can make happy is you. You're not going to make your sister happy unless you fully commit and go back to the JW's...but that would be lying and make you miserable. You're not going to make your mother happy with a continued conflict with your sister. So, the only one left is you. Leave the ball in your sister's court. She knows where to find you if she wants a relationship. The fact that she went out with you says that she does miss her sister, but her cult mindset won't let her miss you enough to completely break the rules. In that case, let her know that you love her and when she wants to be a real sister and not a perfunctory one, you'll be waiting for her with open arms.

  • Billy the Ex-Bethelite
    Billy the Ex-Bethelite

    Butterfly,

    Perhaps your mom's text sounds more like it's reactionary, relaying the rant of your sister rather than expressing your mom's feelings. Emotional tone gets completely lost in non-vocal, "no body language to interpret", texts or emails or letters. Perhaps it's the case with your mother as well with any of us single folks that live alone, we often communicate to others before we get the chance to bounce suggestions off a spouse or close friend. Our first attempts to communicate something don't come across as we intended since we didn't do enough thinking before we put our mouth in gear.

    Rather than being adversarial with Mom, it sounds like the need for the voice of reason that you're not "the bad guy." If the subject comes up, you might say something like, "I forget that my sister gets very upset if I mention scriptures or anything that doesn't exactly fit with her beliefs. After all, she feels that it's her duty to go door-to-door telling others that they'll be destroyed if they don't believe exactly what the latest Watchtower prints. Yet I'm expected to apologize if I express my scriptural faith or even quote a scripture. Well, what can you do with someone that feels that "freedom of speech" means only THEIR freedom of speech and not yours?"

  • Butterflyleia85
    Butterflyleia85

    all very wonderful advice! it's a releif to have such wise and understanding people to help! thank goodness it wasn't brought up. but i know it's not the end and will be at a later time. thanks again for everyones help... it's very kind of you all to take time and thought i will refer back to this often. :)

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